With a focus on student safety and well-being, this guide is designed to provide general information and links to resources about anti-oppression and related topics such as diversity, inclusion, and social justice for the UNLV academic community. Intended to be non-partisan, many resources offered here are for everyone regardless of political affiliation or viewpoint. In some cases, resources and links related to issues and specific policies proposed by elected officials are part of this guide as these issues and proposed policies directly impact professional and personal lives of members of our community, such as immigrants or people of color.
We would like to offer our appreciation to the following individuals and other valued colleagues who contributed to the development of this guide.
Christine Clark, Professor, Teaching & Learning
Brittany Fiedler, Teaching & Learning Librarian
Mariana Sarmiento Hernández
Sue Wainscott, Engineering Librarian
This guide seeks to serve as a starting point and is not meant to be exhaustive. It is our goal to continue its development in response to evolving needs of the community. We welcome suggestions from all members of the UNLV academic community.
If you have feedback about this guide or would like to suggest additional resources, please contact Sue Wainscott, Engineering Librarian
Social media has been used by educators, activists, and others to share resources related to anti-oppression. Here are some hashtags to follow on social media platforms.
(Go to the Report Hate/Get Help tab for immediate help, if an emergency dial 911.)
Educating Yourself
(Artwork by Anita Revilla, used with permission from the artist, quote added)
Injustice exists in our world. The fight against any type of injustice is personal and begins with the individual -- seeking to educate themselves, seeking to understand the issue, and seeking to end the injustice.
Below you will find a number of resources about evaluating news sources and understanding different types of anti-oppression.
It is especially important to learn about the oppression of marginalized groups that you do not belong to if you want to become an ally or engage in activism around those issues. All people experience power, privilege, and oppression in different ways, depending upon their multiple, intersecting identities. For example, power, privilege, and oppression are experienced on the basis of race; ethnicity; nationality; class; gender; sexual identity; physical, developmental, and psychological ability; and religion. For each aspect of your identity, you experience either privilege or oppression. Once you become aware of the ways in which you are oppressed, you can get support for and advocate for those marginalized communities that you are a part of.
Then, what you do with your power and privilege matters. You have the opportunity to use your power and privilege for good - to become an ally and activist for marginalized communities that you are not a part of. Being an ally within the dominant group that you are a part of can help bring attention to the issues and causes that others experience. This is an important part of the process of fighting for social justice and working to dismantle systems of power and oppression in our society.
If you are witness to incidents of harrassment or hate, go to the Report Hate/Get Help tab which has resources about what to do if you witness harassment or bigotry (intolerance of others based on their identity).
To learn more about the documentary film linked above, Change the Subject, to contact the filmmakers, or host a screening, visit the Dartmouth Library Website at library.dartmouth.edu/digital/digital-collections/change-the-subject